A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has become the first juvenile banned from Gloucester's city centre after a campaign of abusive behaviour and assaults as part of a 21-strong mob.
The teenager from Tuffley is the first youth to be slapped with a "red card" in the Gloucester City Safe scheme, which blocks those committing crimes and antisocial behaviour from a large number of the city's businesses.
He formed part of a large gang of teenagers terrorising takeaways and shops in recent months, which included a number of assaults on security staff as well as hurling abuse at passers-by.
McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and KFC had been particularly targeted.
The group, ranging in age from 14 to 19, have all been hit with yellow card warnings meaning they are only one more indiscretion away from being banned themselves.
The 15-year-old, as well as a 19-year-old from Gloucester, have now received their second warnings, meaning a red card and no access to large parts of the city.
If they were to breach this banning order they could face prosecution from Gloucestershire Police who are working in partnership with the scheme.
Gloucester City Safe manager Rich Burge said the actions from the group had gone far beyond a simple nuisance to retailers and the decision to take action had not been made lightly.
"They have overstepped the mark by intimidating staff and customers which is why we have worked with the police to solve it," he said.
"It has caused significant problems to staff and has been going on for a couple of months now. It has become a big problem for the stores.
"Bottom line is that people need to behave when they come to the city or face the consequences."
As part of the scheme, each of the teenagers' parents received a visit to explain the warning their child had received, with varied results.
"The majority of the parents have been very supportive and have worked with us to get their kids to see the light," added Mr Burge.
"But some of them are really off the rails and do not have that parental support.
"It is important to say the stores have worked very closely with the police and City Safe to resolve the issues, which is very much what City Safe is about."
So far the project has issued 380 yellow cards and 30 red cards since its inception almost a year ago and Mr Burge believes it has had a significant effect on the level of crime in Gloucester.
Darren Simms of Simms Security, which provides protection personnel for a number of Gloucester businesses, said youths becoming aggressive in large groups were the biggest problem faced by security officers day-to-day.
"It is the culture now. We're limited to what we can do now and youngsters are abusing that," he said.
"For some of the guys new to the job it can be quite frightening to come up against a large group of confrontational youths the first few times.
"When it happens it happens so quickly the guys have no chance to be nervous or worry, they have to use their instincts and remain professional at all times.
"It's great we can now threaten to ban them because people are realising the error of their ways. It's a useful tool."
The scheme has more 90 Gloucester businesses signed up now and has recently joined forces with Stroud companies, meaning a ban applies in that town as well.
